Thursday, October 19, 2006

Population Hits 300 Million!

When the United States was last poised to pass such a momentous population milestone, Chicago's famous Picasso sculpture had only recently been dedicated, gas cost 33 cents a gallon and the nation was deeply embroiled in a war in Vietnam.

It had taken more than half a century for the U.S. to grow from 100 million to 200 million people, finally crossing the threshold in November 1967. Now, nearly 40 years later, the nation is on the brink of reaching 300 million.

"It's as good a number as any to stop and take stock of where we are and where we might be headed," said Linda Jacobsen, director of domestic programs for the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington-based think tank that studies national and global demographics.

It is also an achievement that is certain to trigger marketing initiatives on the part of baby food manufacturers, hospital publicists, public officials and others, just as it did in 1967. Gerber Products Co. has already incorporated a potential 300 millionth baby on its Web site.

Whether the 300 millionth person is a newborn--or someone entering the nation legally through an airport or illegally through the Arizona desert--will never be known because no one counts each new arrival.

At 300 million, the United States is the world's third most populous nation, though it remains far behind the growing economic superpowers of China (1.31 billion) and India (1.09 billion).

Fueled by immigration, longer life expectancies and birthrates that remain relatively high for an industrialized nation, America's next 100 million is expected to be added even quicker, perhaps by 2040.